Emergency weather response; creating the Oklahoma Emergency Weather Response and Tracking Regulatory Act of 2025; defining terms; effective date.

Updated bill title from 'PROPOSED OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE' to 'COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE' and changed request number from 13209 to 13278.

Added requirement for Professional Severe Weather Trackers to undergo electronic national criminal history record checks.

Added requirement for hiring entities to provide letters confirming the tracker's knowledge, experience, and training to exercise license powers responsibly.

Added requirement for Professional Severe Weather Trackers to complete emergency driving courses before initial licensing and at each renewal.

Increased minimum vehicle insurance requirement to One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) of combined single liability coverage.

The definition of 'significant weather event' was changed from specific tornado emergencies and NOAA warnings to include tornado or severe thunderstorm warnings that cover any county in Oklahoma or neighboring states.

The definition of 'Professional Severe Weather Tracker' was modified to include individuals affiliated with research programs at qualified institutions for higher education.

The requirement for Professional Severe Weather Trackers to submit to an electronic national criminal history record check was removed from the bill.

Vehicle identification requirements were simplified, removing the requirement to display the FCC license number and instead requiring only the Service Oklahoma license number and an identifying number developed by Service Oklahoma.

The bill title and scope were expanded to include 'Emergency Weather Response' in addition to tracking, and the act now explicitly allows storm chasing without a license under certain conditions.

Renamed the act from 'Emergency Weather Response and Tracking' to 'Severe Weather Media Tracking and Research' to better reflect its focus on severe weather tracking rather than general emergency response.

Revised the definition of 'significant weather event' to emphasize confirmed tornadoes and tornado emergencies that cover Oklahoma counties or neighboring counties bordering Oklahoma, rather than risk-level days.

Changed the minimum employment requirement for media outlet trackers from five (5) years to one (1) year, while adding a provision that applicants must not have been terminated for cause in the last four years.

Updated vehicle identification requirements to include Service Oklahoma license numbers and FCC license numbers for media outlets, or Service Oklahoma numbers for university-affiliated trackers.

Added specific requirement for electronic national criminal history record checks for all professional severe weather trackers.

Updated vehicle lighting requirements to specify green and yellow flashing lights visible at 500 feet in normal sunlight.